On the Road

También en: El Extraño Gato del CuentoTodas mis lecturas en el reto Los Libros de Charlie han sido bastante variado, me han gustado, los he amado completamente, se me hicieron indiferentes o ni siquiera pude pasar de la primera página. En este caso con On the Road me fue conflictivo, hubo partes donde mi interés estuvo completamente despierto mientras que otros me fue difícil incluso hasta pasar página; de todos los libros en la lista de lectura es uno de los que más información tuve gracias a una película que se hizo hace algunos años, entonces... Entonces sacarme de la cabeza la cara de ciertos actores que no me gustan malogró también mi experiencia con el libro, así como me pasó con El Gran Gatsby.Dean MoriartySe supone que lo que da vida a la historia es la relación casi dependiente entre el narrador del libro (del cuál no enteramos de su nombre hasta la mitad) y Dean, sólo que para mí fue lo menos interesante y lo más desesperante de la lectura. Leer sobre Sal viajando, conociendo gente casi enamorarse en cada pueblo que conocía, fue lo que más me gustó. Mientras que con Dean, cada vez que aparecía quise golpearlo y abandonar el libro, quizá es porque he tenido el placer de conocer uno que otro prospecto de Dean, el personaje se me hizo insoportable.Adaptación Mata LibroAquí en Perú hay una especie de dicho “Billetera mata galán”, quiere decir que no importa lo guapo que seas o que tan buena persona eres, si no tienes plata... HABLA'OS (esas interesadas...). No sé si mi versión del dicho este muy bien. La cosa es esta: en el libro la belleza y exuberancia de Marylou es mencionado cada dos párrafos creo, Sal está muy obsesionado con ella, mientras lees te imaginas una Scarlett Johansson, con un físico espectacular, extremadamente sensual pero sin ser vulgar, muy típico de esa época cuándo no había esta cultura a los huesos que hay ahora pero.... Pero... No podía sacarme de la cabeza la actriz que escogieron para la película y me arruinó todo (quién se ve nada sensual pero sí muy vulgar)¿Qué más puedo decir del libro? Una vez que lo terminé no he vuelto a pensar en él, incluso se me hizo difícil escribir esta reseña de lo indiferente que quedé, los libros On-Road tienden a ser mis favoritos, estoy casi predispuesta a que me gusten y quizá solo por eso le puse 2 de 5 estrellas y no 0.Twitter   Blog   Pinterest   Tumblr   Instagram

I see the appeal to this book. Youthful exuberance, a lust for life, the excitement of finding “it” in conversation and music. The freedom of the road and life expanding as wide as the American countryside, ready to be consumed and explored. The pseudo spiritual, all-accepting opening up to experiencing fully whatever comes and not giving a damn about what happens tomorrow. The desire to define your new rules for life while willfully breaking all the old ones. On the Road has its moments of contagious transcendence.

And yet, it remains a story about a bunch of aimless kids recklessly ripping back and forth across the country leaving a trail of missing property, misplaced trust, broken hearts and ruined lives in their wake. It's told in an unrepentant way that sacrifices social responsibility at the alter of youthful pleasures. Despite Kerouac's portrayal of this dichotomy, life doesn't have to be that way. Freedom and virtue aren't mutually exclusive. Let On the Road wake you up and get you out the door. Enjoy the story, appreciate its place in American history. Then put Kerouac the shelf and head out in search of a more substantive guide to take along the way.

Just didn't do it for me.

this book is a just a long boring roadtrip.also I could not connect with the characters. it felt like a diary.

Could never understand the appeal of this book. Must be missing something.

I think I would've enjoyed this book much more if I had first read it in high school or early college.

On the bus I started reading “On the Road”. And very aptly so. The frenzy and madness of a book which makes you relive travels if you know them and makes you understand them if you haven't, cannot better be read than when you are in a hurry in a crowded and confined space.

The narrative has a rhythm and a flow which made me surge through the book as the hero Dean races from one coastline to the other. A remarkable feeling to drop everything and just go is what it unravels.

The characters at times reminded me of characters in a Hunter S. Thompson novel (e.g. page 129). A lovely read.

This is one of those books that I have to weight my own personal enjoyment against the literary significance of a novel. If I base it on my own enjoyment, it's 1 star. And that's generous. I hated the characters, I couldn't relate to them in any way. I didn't feel that they had a story to tell. I didn't understand why they chose to live as they did in the book. And it is boring; it took me months from start to finish.

That being said, obviously this book is an important part of American history. I read it because it's an important book to read. And it's a good way to get into the head of one of the prominent members of The Beats. So for literary significance, I'd have to give it between 3 and 4.

And so I come to average of 2.

Meh.

This books makes a whole lot more sense when you read it as an adult and have some context. I really loved it this time around. It's a great look into post-WWII counterculture during a generation defined by cookie-cutter suburbs and American hegemony. Sal and Dean create a brilliant yet flawed portrait of youth searching for purpose in an elusive “American dream.”

Wildly overrated “novel” about a bunch of beatniks travelling around and having “adventures”, mostly involving drugs and sex and being liberated and putting it “to the man”. Pathetically trying to be cool and irreverent but coming off immature, like rebellious teenagers. I don't understand why people rate this book highly. It's not much and what there is is repeated again and again.

This particular story is about a lifestyle I wouldn't care to live nor can I identify with the topics of discussion some of the characters talk about. So I found it a very uncomfortable read.

However, I can appreciate the need to break out of the confinements set by previous generations. Also the need to travel and experience new things (just not these types). I liked the way Kerouac writes; the story flows, it's not too complex to follow, and the words create clear images in my mind. I might consider reading something else of his.

I think that stream of consciousness books are not for me.

The comments of the young clerk at Half Price Books are typical of what I've heard: “On the Road is my favorite book. It changed my life.” I wouldn't say On the Road is my favorite book and I wouldn't say it changed my life, but it was a powerful read. Sal Paradise (a thinly disguised Kerouac) and Dean Moriarty travel back and forth across America and even into Mexico, visiting like-minded friends, picking up and dropping women, drinking, looking for...what? They rarely seemed satisfied for more than a few hours and they didn't really seem to know what it was they were seeking. They had strong feelings about what they were fleeing, though, mostly conformity and mindless work and people who didn't think much about their lives. It was hard for me to understand their restlessness and their aversion to most of America, and I felt a terrible anger toward the men because of the careless way they treated their wives and other women and the children they begat.